Karachi Fashion Week: Men's Fashion Week is a Disgrace to Menswear
Being a boy, i love dressing up and not just dressing up, but dressing up to look good. Thus it makes me an avid follower of menswear fashion trends. I go through look books and catalogs online just to find the perfect look. And a lot of times stumbling through pictures of menswear shows at London and Milan fashion weeks pays isn't a waste of time. The clothes are to die for, while the styling is just top notch. So it came as a surprise for me when I came to know there's going to be the first ever men's fashion week in Pakistan. It was exciting and I had looked forward to it with great anticipation. But when it finally came, it made me wish it would end and go back to dust quicker than it came back and never return. Ever.
Let’s just admit; menswear in Pakistan is a struggling genre and I see no hope of it going stronger. There, I said it. And why I say it, well, let’s just say that the recently held Karachi Fashion Week: Men’s Fashion Week had to do a lot with it. The recently held two day event was organized by Triple-E event Management Company in Karachi, and even though I like the fact that they took HSY’s help in organizing it, it was a disaster. The lineup consisted of only ten designers, out of which only HSY and Yahseer were well known and the textile houses Bonanza and Gul Ahmed were simply textile houses-trying-desperately-to-be-fashion-houses. The rest just proved why they all should remain in the dark.
It was horrible; in simple words. I know there is dearth of menswear designers here in Pakistan but if designers keep coming up with weird clothes that are completely unwearable and more costumes than actual clothes, then I see no hope of growth. Fashion is supposed to be wearable art and aesthetically pleasing but the two days of what we saw was hardly pleasing, let alone art. Going shirtless wearing weird pants or see through kurtas is unacceptable and in no way translates into fashion for men and Element Jeans and Shabz Couture seem to have missed that point. Their collections were just pointless and were the joke of the event. Other designers seem to have forgotten that if you’re going to show at a fashion week, there is no need to play safe and show the same styles and clothes that are neither innovative nor creative. The collections were confused and haphazard and too colorful to be actually worn. Men want something that is worth the money they spend, admit it, we rarely shop and when we do, we don't want to look like idiots. I, for one, would not want to look like an almost toned down version of a clown because that's what it looked like; something circus performers would wear. Whoever chose the designers to be shown should have taken this into consideration, Apart from HSY's collection, some of Yahseer's pieces and Boannza (it was at least better than others), the rest of the collections were not up to the mark to be shown at any fashion week. They were a mockery to the name of men's fashion, and a shame to the name of fashion and Pakistani fashion.
Considering how there's already a shortage of menswear designers in Pakistan, and even lesser good ones, this fashion week proved why men's fashion will take too long to grow in Pakistan; it is not being taken seriously. I'm not sure how long it can be kept up. Because no one wants to be caught dead in the so-called "couture" that was shown at KFW:MFW. Pakistani fashion community needs to give a serious consideration to where this is headed. No wonder those select few good designers show at the mainstream fashion weeks like the PSFW or the FPW because no one should be associated with such humility. If you’re going to start off a new fashion week, then you need the support of the big guns of the fashion industry. The only reason PSFW and FPW are headed strong is because they are under the guidance of people who are not just event managers, but also deeply involved in fashion and are designers themselves. And even if you are not involving them in the organizing team, then at least get a lineup of designers that are synonymous with menswear in Pakistan. Having already established menswear designers such as Ismail Farid, Ahmed Bham or Omar Farooq of REPUBLIC on board would do wonders to the KFW:MFW. These are the people who define what the Pakistani man wears. Though it’s good to provide a platform to the young and emerging talent, but don’t let them ruin it for you. This is exactly what went down at KFW:MFW.
If this is what the image of Pakistani menswear I going to be projected to the world, then it’s just better to abandon this project. KFW:MFW was a huge disappointment and here's hoping it either vanishes off the map if they're gonna keep up with this charade, or up their game. Even though I see no socks that can be pulled up.
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Picture Courtesy Movie Shoovy
Special Shout out to Muniba Kamal For helping me write this and giving me pointers even though it couldn't make it to InStep, I'm happy she could help me out and I could learn :)
Let’s just admit; menswear in Pakistan is a struggling genre and I see no hope of it going stronger. There, I said it. And why I say it, well, let’s just say that the recently held Karachi Fashion Week: Men’s Fashion Week had to do a lot with it. The recently held two day event was organized by Triple-E event Management Company in Karachi, and even though I like the fact that they took HSY’s help in organizing it, it was a disaster. The lineup consisted of only ten designers, out of which only HSY and Yahseer were well known and the textile houses Bonanza and Gul Ahmed were simply textile houses-trying-desperately-to-be-fashion-houses. The rest just proved why they all should remain in the dark.
It was horrible; in simple words. I know there is dearth of menswear designers here in Pakistan but if designers keep coming up with weird clothes that are completely unwearable and more costumes than actual clothes, then I see no hope of growth. Fashion is supposed to be wearable art and aesthetically pleasing but the two days of what we saw was hardly pleasing, let alone art. Going shirtless wearing weird pants or see through kurtas is unacceptable and in no way translates into fashion for men and Element Jeans and Shabz Couture seem to have missed that point. Their collections were just pointless and were the joke of the event. Other designers seem to have forgotten that if you’re going to show at a fashion week, there is no need to play safe and show the same styles and clothes that are neither innovative nor creative. The collections were confused and haphazard and too colorful to be actually worn. Men want something that is worth the money they spend, admit it, we rarely shop and when we do, we don't want to look like idiots. I, for one, would not want to look like an almost toned down version of a clown because that's what it looked like; something circus performers would wear. Whoever chose the designers to be shown should have taken this into consideration, Apart from HSY's collection, some of Yahseer's pieces and Boannza (it was at least better than others), the rest of the collections were not up to the mark to be shown at any fashion week. They were a mockery to the name of men's fashion, and a shame to the name of fashion and Pakistani fashion.
Considering how there's already a shortage of menswear designers in Pakistan, and even lesser good ones, this fashion week proved why men's fashion will take too long to grow in Pakistan; it is not being taken seriously. I'm not sure how long it can be kept up. Because no one wants to be caught dead in the so-called "couture" that was shown at KFW:MFW. Pakistani fashion community needs to give a serious consideration to where this is headed. No wonder those select few good designers show at the mainstream fashion weeks like the PSFW or the FPW because no one should be associated with such humility. If you’re going to start off a new fashion week, then you need the support of the big guns of the fashion industry. The only reason PSFW and FPW are headed strong is because they are under the guidance of people who are not just event managers, but also deeply involved in fashion and are designers themselves. And even if you are not involving them in the organizing team, then at least get a lineup of designers that are synonymous with menswear in Pakistan. Having already established menswear designers such as Ismail Farid, Ahmed Bham or Omar Farooq of REPUBLIC on board would do wonders to the KFW:MFW. These are the people who define what the Pakistani man wears. Though it’s good to provide a platform to the young and emerging talent, but don’t let them ruin it for you. This is exactly what went down at KFW:MFW.
If this is what the image of Pakistani menswear I going to be projected to the world, then it’s just better to abandon this project. KFW:MFW was a huge disappointment and here's hoping it either vanishes off the map if they're gonna keep up with this charade, or up their game. Even though I see no socks that can be pulled up.
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Picture Courtesy Movie Shoovy
Special Shout out to Muniba Kamal For helping me write this and giving me pointers even though it couldn't make it to InStep, I'm happy she could help me out and I could learn :)